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No. 54 May 17, 1993
Address: aceska at cue.bc.ca Victoria, B.C.
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VICTORIA BOTANY COMING EVENTS
May 17, 1993 Botany Night. Dr. Job Kuijt will talk about
parasitic plants. Swan Lake Nature House, 7:30 p.m.
No charge.
May 29, 1993 Scots Broom removal party in Uplands Park.
Cattle Point parking lot, 9:00 a.m. Bring any instrument
of mass destruction that would cut, clip, or pull broom.
NDP LOSES MORAL AUTHORITY WITH DECISION TO LOG CLAYOQUOT SOUND
From: Student Enviro-Link <env-link+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
The British Columbia Government decision regarding Clayoquot
Sound reflects their consistent bias towards the forest
industry. Premier Harcourt announced today that 62% of the
remaining unlogged area of this region will now be available for
logging. Clayoquot Sound is the largest temperate rainforest
ecosystem left on Vancouver Island and has already lost 30% of
it's original forests.
This area has been identified by conservation biologists as
one of only two remaining areas in British Columbia large enough
to ensure the continued biodiversity of the temperate rainforest
ecosystem. The implementation of Premier Harcourt's decision will
remove Clayoquot Sound from this category.
"This decision removes once and for all any doubt as to whose
interest the B.C. government is promoting," commented Friends of
Clayoquot Sound member Garth Lenz. "What can we expect from a
government which has requested industry to advise them on forest
policy, invested 50 million dollars of taxpayers money in
MacMillan Bloedel, and has launched a European propaganda
campaign with the help of the logging company International
Forest Products?" continued Lenz.
"This decision by Premier Harcourt will be held up to the
scrutiny of the international community, a community which
increasingly associates British Columbia with the kind of
environmental practices which Brazil and Sarawak are famous for.
The British Columbia Government's ability to speak with any moral
authority in the international arena will be severely undermined
by this decision", stated Valerie Langer, a director of the
Friends of Clayoquot Sound upon her recent return from a
slideshow tour of Europe with Lenz.
"LAKKA" FROM LAPPLAND IN B.C. LIQOUR STORES
From: "Pakarinen, Pekka" <PAKARINEN at cc.Helsinki.FI>
[I noticed a new "Cloudberry Liqueur - LAKKA" in the British
Columbia Liquor Stores. I asked Dr. Pekka Pakarinen to explain
me the name. - AC]
LAKKA is the Finnish name for Rubus chamaemorus, especially for
the berry. So 'cloudberry liqueur' is is a good generic name for
the product. For the plant, another name 'muurain, or
suomuurain' is a lso commonly used in Finnish language and
botany books. Collection of cloudberries provides locally
important additional income for some north Finnish farmers.
Berries are sold in marketplaces in late summer at ca 7-10+ $ /
kg (and used mainly fresh). By the way, another Rubus, R.
arcticus, (sometimes translated Arctic bramble- berry) is also a
source of a very special product, 'mesimarja liqueur', sold in
taxfree shops of Nordic airports (Helsinki, Stockholm ..)
FOOD FROM SALT MARSHES - EC STUDIES
From: Bogemans Joost <jobogema at vub.ac.be>
Title : A contribution to the diversification of the production
of vegetable crops by research on cultivation methods and
selection of halophytes.
Objective: The objective is to domesticate a number of plant
species, which are adapted to saline or brackish soils and are
locally gathered and consumed as a vegetable (Aster tripolium,
Salicornia ssp. Crambe maritima and Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima)
The endproduct will be a number of cultivars that produce
commercially interesting horticultural crops.
Specific objectives : Attempting to cultivate halophytic species
under low salt conditions, without losing the special attributes
that make these species attractive for consumption. Production
of vegetable crops that can be used in tropical and subtropical
countries, where salinisation renders arable land otherwise
improductive.
The dept. of plant physiology (VUB, Brussels ) is involved in
germination aspects, mineral nutrition of halophytes under low
salt conditions, tissue culture methods.
Countries involved : Belgium, The Netherlands and Portugal
NEW JOURNAL - OECOLOGIA MONTANA
Oecologia Montana is an international journal published in close
scientific cooperation with the High Tatras National Park in
Slovakia. It is devoted to the study of mountain ecosystems,
population dynamics of plants and animals, wildlife protection,
conservation, problems of pollution, land degradation, etc.
Subscriptions: PRUNELLA PUBLISHERS, Jarmocna 1298/16, 058 01
Poprad, Slovakia. Cost: US$35.00. Major credit cards accepted.
INTERNET GUIDE
Internet: Mailing Lists - 1993 Edition by Hardil, E.T.L. & N.
Neou. P.T.R. Printice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 356 p.
ISBN 0-13-327941-3 CDN $35.95
This is a list of mailing lists, electronic newsletters and
discussion groups. Yes, BEN is listed there as "a newsletter
distributed on e-mail, deals with botany and plant ecology of
predominantly British Columbia, Canada and the Pacific Northwest
(from California to Alaska) with broader reference to planet
Earth."
BITNET PROBLEMS
I have encountered some problems with getting to BITNET. I would
greatly appreciate, if the BEN susbcribers on BITNET could give
me their Internet address.